1st NSERC Hydronet Symposium- Delta Winnipeg
March 29th and 30th 2011-06-03
The thermal and spatial ecology and associated entrainment risk of burbot (Lota lota) in a large
hydropower reservoir in Southern British Columbia, Canada.P.M.Harrison1, L. Gutowsky2,
S.J.Cooke2, M.Power1
1University
2Carleton
of Waterloo, Department of Biology
University, Department of Biology
Abstract
The burbot Lota lota is a fairly recent marine coloniser of freshwater and the only member of
the cod family (Gadidae) to complete its entire lifecycle in freshwater. While burbot are
abundant through much of their circumpolar distribution, many populations towards the
southern edge of their North American range are threatened or in serious decline. In
Canada, burbot are often found in impounded hydropower reservoirs and a recent collapse
of a number of burbot fisheries in the highly impounded Columbia River watershed has
highlighted the vulnerability of burbot to hydropower infrastructure development. Despite
burbot’s unique life history, and a recent increase in scientific interest in the species, many
aspects of burbot thermal and spatial ecology and interactions with hydropower operations
remain poorly understood. Given the global increase in hydropower demand and predicted
global temperature rises, improving our knowledge of burbot thermal and spatial ecology and
entrainment risk in hydropower systems may be essential for the future conservation of this
important recreational and subsistence fishery species. In light of the risks of hydroelectric
development to burbot and current knowledge gaps, the general objectives of our research
are: 1) To further our understanding of burbot thermal and spatial ecology in hydropower
systems and the influence of hydropower operations on burbot behaviour; 2) To investigate
and determine the factors that influence burbot entrainment risk and inform on entrainment
mitigation and compensatory strategies. In order to address these objectives our research
will focus on Kinbasket Reservoir and Mica Dam, located in south eastern British Columbia,
and will utilize three linked studies: 1) a thermal ecology study utilising thermal and depth
telemetry and otolith thermometry; 2) a spatial ecology and entrainment risk study utilising a
broad-scale presence/absence acoustic telemetry array; 3) A fine-scale study of burbot
behaviour in the vicinity of turbine intakes utilising a positional acoustic telemetry array.